This is Spiritualized doing “Cop Shoot Cop.” It is the final track on their 1997 album Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space, which is one of the greatest albums ever made. Full stop. Jason Pierce, or J. Spaceman as he calls himself, came out of Spacemen 3 and built Spiritualized into something completely its own. This track is SEVENTEEN MINUTES long. It builds from almost nothing into a full gospel choir, a brass section, Dr John on piano, and layers of noise that could strip paint off the walls. Seeing them play this live is like watching a storm roll in over open water. Settle in for this one.
2. The Blockheads — “Liberty”
The Blockheads. Ian Dury’s band. The band behind “Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick” and “Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll” and “Reasons to Be Cheerful.” Dury died in 2000 but the Blockheads never stopped. They are still one of the tightest live bands in Britain, and they are still writing new music. “Liberty” is a brand new single, written by original members Chaz Jankel and Mickey Gallagher. It sounds like it could have come straight off New Boots and Panties. That louche funk groove, the wailing sax from Davey Payne, and lyrics that are pure Blockheads spirit. Ian would approve.
3. Van Morrison — “Have I Told You Lately”
Van Morrison again. This time with “Have I Told You Lately.” You probably know the Rod Stewart version, which was a massive hit, but this is VAN’S SONG. He wrote it. It appeared on his 1989 album Avalon Sunset. And hearing the man himself sing it live is a completely different experience. Rod turned it into a power ballad. Van turns it into a conversation. Quiet, tender, almost like he is talking to one person in the room. This is Van at his most open and generous.
4. Dean Wareham
Dean Wareham. If you know the name Galaxie 500, you already know why this matters. He co-founded Galaxie 500 in 1987 and they made three albums of slow, hypnotic, Velvet Underground influenced dream pop that changed the sound of indie music forever. When they split in 1991, Dean formed Luna and spent another 14 years making beautiful guitar records that Rolling Stone called “the best band you’ve never heard of.” Born in New Zealand, raised in New York, and still going solo with his wife Britta Phillips. That voice, that guitar tone, completely unmistakable. This is him live.
5. Primal Scream — “Country Girl”
Primal Scream doing “Country Girl.” Bobby Gillespie and the boys from Glasgow. This band has reinvented themselves more times than I have had hot dinners. From C86 jangle pop to the acid house revolution of Screamadelica to the dirty rock and roll of XTRMNTR. “Country Girl” is from the 2006 album Riot City Blues and it is Primal Scream doing what they do best. Big, swaggering, arms in the air, everybody singing along, ROCK AND ROLL. Pure Glasgow energy.
6. Van Morrison — “Fame”
Van Morrison doing “Fame.” This is Van’s OWN SONG, from his 1991 double album Hymns to the Silence. That album is 21 tracks across two discs, and a good chunk of the first half deals with the pressures of fame and the dishonesty of the music business. Classic Van territory. The man who gave us Astral Weeks and Moondance has never been comfortable with the industry side of things, and “Fame” is him putting that restlessness into words. Georgie Fame is on organ and piano throughout the album too, which is a nice coincidence given the title. Hearing this one live is Van at his most pointed.
7. Acid Mothers Temple
And now for something completely different. Acid Mothers Temple. A Japanese psychedelic rock collective led by guitarist Kawabata Makoto since 1995. They have released more albums than most bands have had rehearsals. The sound is COSMIC. Think Hawkwind meets Stockhausen meets a Grateful Dead space jam, but with a character all its own. Kawabata says he does not need mind-altering substances because the music comes from his cosmos. Watching them live is like stepping into a trance. The volume is immense, the jams go on forever, and the whole room disappears. This is them at full power.
Cheers!
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